Establish the positives and negatives of social media

Assessment Item 3 Written Report
Value: 50%
Length: Maximum 3000-3500 words

Task: Select any one from the list below:

• Harvey Norman
• Commonwealth Bank of Australia
• Jetstar
• BUPA Health insurance

Consider their presence in Australian market only. Examine their website and social media presence (including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and any others). Analyse the impact of Social Media on their core business. For this purpose, you will need to follow these steps.

1. Select any business from the list above that you would like to investigate within Australia.
2. Identify all their social media channels and what they are being used for (for example, they may be using social media for recruitment, marketing, sales, creating a presence and increasing the reach etc.)
3. Analyse how each of these channels are being used by the business and report this.
4. Establish the positives and negatives of the use of social media. Identify any issues or problems with the current social media usage.
5. Identify additional social media channels that can be used to enhance their business and profits.
6. Provide clear recommendations with a forward planning strategy as to what the business should do, with justifications. This may include removing some channels that are not reliable, adding on more channels or a better mix, etc.
7. Tables, graphs, visuals may be used as embedded in the text.
8. References will be as per Harvard Referencing style, in text citations and a list
9. Of references.

Criteria:
• Introduction and Conclusions (20% of total mark)
• Methodological Framework (20% of total mark)
• Analytical Discussion (40% of total mark)
• References & Professional Writing/Presentation (20% of total mark)

Expert Partial Solution 

Introduction

Harvey Norman is a multinational retailer which was founded in the year 1982 with Katie Page being the Chief Executive Officer. It deals with such products as beddings, furniture, electrical, computers and communications, as well as carpet and flooring (Psaros and Seamer, 2015). The company was started in the New South Wales in Australia and has branches in other countries such as in Malaysia, Croatia, Ireland, New Zealand, and Singapore. It operates as a franchise and has more than 194 locations. The number of employees is estimated to be around 10,000 only in Australia. When all the employees are estimated from all branches, the number becomes too huge and this means that the company has provided a wide range of employees not only in Australia but also in other countries (Van Der Laan and Dean, 2010). This piece of work aims at identifying and analyzing the impact of social media channels used in the business of this retailer. The negative, as well as the positive impacts of the identified social media, are discussed as well as recommendations which need to be incorporated in the company in order to make it more productive, efficient, and effective.

Social Media Channels and their Use

In this company, there are several social media channels which have been used for different purposes which benefit the company. These social media channels include Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter. All these channels have some functions which are similar while others differ in the way they are used. The diagram below shows the social media channels which are being used by Harvey Norman.

Facebook

Facebook has been used by Harvey Norman to increase the reach of customers. This is because Facebook is a wide online platform which is available in almost 80% of the countries all over the world. Harvey Norman, therefore, ensures that the customers are updated on the new products that are incoming into the market through Facebook (Coleman, 2010). The products are displayed on the Facebook page where the customers can be able to see them clearly and with ease. New features of different products are also used by Harvey Norman to ensure that customers are kept with the most recent updates. In addition, the company interacts with the customers freely through the use of the Facebook page. There is a customer service which ensures that the interaction with the customers is efficient (Xia, 2013). Customers are able to inquire on various issues as well as to have their complaints settled. Customers are also able to avoid errors and mistakes in their shopping since they inquire before they can do the shopping. Moreover, Harvey Norman uses Facebook to keep the customers aware of fraudsters as well as illegal and corrupt people who use the company to do other things other than the intended ones. On a post that was shared in the Facebook page, an email is shown where the public is warned against people who send emails congratulating people and informing them that they have been selected for a 30seconds survey which gives the customers a chance to win a prize such as an iPhone and a computer (Nixon, 2004). The company has posted a mail which has been circulating informing the public on the offer. The Harvey Norman has cautioned the public that this is a scam and that they do not have such a thing at all (Yu, Duan and Cao, 2013)…Read more

Positives of the Use of Facebook

Facebook has been very beneficial to Harvey Norman since it has increased the reach of people within the country, Australia. This has resulted in an increased number of customers who purchase products from the company. In addition, Facebook has made it possible for the customers to give their feedback concerning the products. This feedback has been useful in making improvements in various areas as well as providing the public with information useful for decision making.

Negatives of the Use of Facebook

Facebook portrays a great challenge to the company since some people create Facebook accounts whose information is false. These people, therefore, make negative comments on different posts because they cannot be tracked based on the information on their profiles. This destroys the reputation of some products of the company and hence reduce the rate of sales of the products (Einwiller and Steilen, 2015).

Useful sources

Bhanot, S., 2012. Use of social media by companies to reach their customers. SIES Journal of Management, 8(1).

Bruhn, M., Schoenmueller, V. and Schafer, D.B., 2012. Are social media replacing traditional media in terms of brand equity creation?. Management Research Review, 35(9), pp.770-790.

Coleman, E.G., 2010. Ethnographic approaches to digital media. Annual review of anthropology, 39, pp.487-505.

De Vries, L., Gensler, S. and Leeflang, P.S., 2012. Popularity of brand posts on brand fan pages: An investigation of the effects of social media marketing. Journal of interactive marketing, 26(2), pp.83-91.

Dumay, J. and Hossain, M.A., 2018. Sustainability risk disclosure practices of listed companies in Australia. Australian Accounting Review.

Edosomwan, S., Prakasan, S.K., Kouame, D., Watson, J. and Seymour, T., 2011. The history of social media and its impact on business. Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship, 16(3), pp.79-91.